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Rick's List
Rift Develops In Tea Party Over Racist Comments By Leader; Chelsea Clinton To Be Wed.
Aired July 19, 2010 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Here is what is making your LIST today:
A bold accusation: the president of the United States says Republicans have given up on America.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That attitude reflects a lack of faith.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: A Tea Party Movement leader who sounded racist last week with comments like this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK WILLIAMS, TEA PARTY EXPRESS: Racists have their own movement. It's called the NAACP.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Over the weekend, he takes it to a whole new level. Wait until you hear what got him booted.
Asked if the Tea Party is racist --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: Oh, my goodness. I'm not interested into getting into that debate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Or was that a yes or a no?
Vice President Biden nailed for campaign finance violations. What list do you think he's on?
They wear camouflage, patrol the desert and carry semiautomatic weapons
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are 11 less illegal aliens in this country thanks to us.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: They claim they round up illegal immigrants, happy to do it. Their leader? A neo-Nazi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALVIN GREENE (D), SOUTH CAROLINA SENATE NOMINEE: I'm also the best choice for the Image Award next year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Who is this guy and why can't he stop sweating?
The lists you need to know about. Who's today's most intriguing? Who's landed on the list you don't want to be on? Who's making news on Twitter?
It's why I keep a list, pioneering tomorrow's cutting-edge news -- right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Hey, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez.
I want to get to the top of this as soon as I possibly can because remember last Thursday when we broke the news that, in fact, it looked like they were finally able to plug the oil leak? At the time, we said that it was going to be 48 hours until they were actually able to make a definitive declaration of some sort. Well, guess what? Forty-eight hours passed since then and there's still no definitive declaration.
The government has detected a seepage down in the Gulf.
All right. You're asking, what does that mean, Rick Sanchez? In many ways, I'm not sure. Chad's going to be here and he's going to get a little more definitive, for lack of a better word. But the seepage and possibly some methane over the weekend on the well, is what we're told.
The man in charge is the guy we're talking about. He's Admiral Thad Allen. He didn't provide exact details about how big the seepage is, exactly where the seepage is. But we do know that it was detected less than two miles away from the well -- less than two miles away from the well.
But if the seepage or the methane becomes a problem -- I keep saying seepage, pardon me -- seepage or the methane becomes a problem, Allen says he's prepared to suspend the testing. In other words, if they re-look at it and say, hey, you know what, this looks bigger than we thought, then they're going to say, we've got to start letting more oil out. Or they say the opposite. You know what? That's no big deal. It's like a pinhole. Done deal, we've got a definitive declaration as we said at the beginning.
All right. Let's go to Chad Myers. He's joining us now.
Did I get it right?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Because, I mean, it's kind of like there's some mystery involved in this explanation.
MYERS: They probably won't let oil out. They probably will hook up one of the lines and take that oil to kind of pressure relief valve oil up into one of the ships.
SANCHEZ: Well, all along, you and I have -- you have been explaining to us, look, Rick, if you've got a pipe and you stop the flow at some point -- let's just say you stop the flow here, then you got to make sure that you're not getting a problem somewhere else down the line, just like when you get a leak in your house and you get a plumber.
Do we know where this potential leakage or seepage is that they're talking about as of last night?
MYERS: Seepage happens.
SANCHEZ: Normally?
MYERS: Normally.
SANCHEZ: OK, good.
MYERS: OK.
SANCHEZ: No problem.
MYERS: We know 40 million gallons of oil seeps into the Gulf of Mexico without any oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico. It naturally just seeps out of the earth.
SANCHEZ: OK.
MYERS: They drill wells where there is seepage because that just makes sense that there must be oil down there, there's oil seeping, let's drill a hole, right? So, we don't know was that the chicken or the egg?
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MYERS: The leakage and the seepage have been happening for thousands of years like in many spots that has been --
SANCHEZ: So, it sounds like what you're saying is this is kind of a cautionary note that's being sounded.
MYERS: We honestly don't know. Pressure is still rising, that's good. If the wellhead, the well pressure would be stopping, wouldn't be going up anymore, before it would -- heaven forbid -- going down --
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MYERS: -- then we would know that something is leaking out somewhere, you better let the pressure out, hook up a line, hook up a hose, hook up something and get that oil out there -- get the pressure down so that no more oil leaks. I don't think Thad Allen is that concerned.
SANCHEZ: Do you have -- by the way, you look very handsome today.
MYERS: Well, thank you.
SANCHEZ: Do you have something or do you have a map --
MYERS: I'm speechless.
SANCHEZ: -- do you have a map or something where you can show us where the potential problem might be?
MYERS: Of course. I always have something.
SANCHEZ: Please. Have at it, sir.
MYERS: Here we go. The original well, there's the drill ship. The original well up on top and this is the pipe that was hooked up to it -- kind of a riser pipe that was sucking the oil up for the longest time. Either the Q4000, which was happening down here, or on top of that old blowout preventer, that they were sucking it out, that was going up to the Helix Producer, and yada, yada, yada, whatever.
Then they began to drill these new wells all the way down here. And then all of a sudden, they drill the wells down here. And they weren't even looking for seepage. They didn't -- wouldn't even care. But now that they're looking, they put this top plug (ph) that they put the cap on, now they say, well, we better look.
Well, if you weren't looking before but now you find it because now you're looking, that's like finding tar balls on a Florida beach, right? They've been there all along. Maybe you just weren't looking. And you know, they're finding tar balls everywhere and now, they're realizing that most of them are from this oil, from some different oil spill altogether.
So, now, we've stopped the oil. But now, the pressure is building up all the way down the line.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MYERS: And now that pressure is up to somewhere in the neighborhood of 6,800 to 6,900 psi. If you try to go buy a power washer at 6,800 psi, you could cut your foot off with it, no kidding, with a stream of water that thick, you would literally be able to rip skin right off your body, that is very high pressure. I mean, I have a power washer that cleans my deck and it's like 1,500 psi.
SANCHEZ: Let me stop you -- let me stop you -- I'm going to stop you real quick. And I don't mean to do this.
MYERS: No, you don't.
SANCHEZ: But just as you said 6,800 --
MYERS: Yes, we got a tweet from BP.
Is there any way we can shoot that? Have we got a camera? Oh, there it is. Where is it? Do we have it up?
MYERS: Yes. It's up.
SANCHEZ: Fantastic. It says -- I walk over here, you stay there --
MYERS: OK.
SANCHEZ: -- "Operational update: Well integrity testing continues, pressure has reached 6,800 psi, and no oil is flowing into the Gulf."
That's the latest from BP. Continue.
MYERS: No oil. No oil.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: But what they have possibly detected is somewhere near this well, the hole in the ground, they have found an increase in methane. Where is that methane coming from? We don't know. It's just gas. It's natural gas, methane gas in the water.
They're seeing the parts per million of methane go up -- it's going up for some reason. Why? Because there are cracks in the surface of the earth, cracks that normally allow oil and gas to go up.
SANCHEZ: So, those cracks could be anywhere over here, over here --
MYERS: Connecting that way, connecting that way.
SANCHEZ: OK. Fine.
MYERS: Earthquakes happen, plates move. The crust is not solid. But now, for some reason, methane gas, the ppi, the parts per million here of methane is higher.
So, some methane is leaking out of the ground for some reason. But it would be the first thing that leaks. Gas will leak before oil. Gas has no viscosity. It's just going to come out.
Something's going on. We're going to find out at 4:00.
SANCHEZ: You got a pretty good feel, though, that things are generally going well. You're optimistic?
MYERS: I'm optimistic because even if we find out that some gas is coming out, they hook the line back up, they take the oil back to these ships and then we relieve the 6,800 --
SANCHEZ: That's the worst-case scenario?
MYERS: And the 6,800 goes down to 3,000 and then the leaking stops.
SANCHEZ: When your worst-case scenario is pretty darn good, you start to feel pretty good.
MYERS: No matter what, we're still not getting oil. We've pumped -- we've stopped it -- well, somebody has.
SANCHEZ: Let's keep talking -- 4:00 news conference, we'll get more information.
Take a look at this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: What I did was successful and I'm glad it was successful. I'm sorry I had to go to those lengths to slap some sense into a lot of people who are so afraid of politically incorrect language that we can't get a conversation started.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Is it successful? I mean, he's been kicked out of the organization for a racist comment. But this is still causing a Tea Party Movement rift. I mean, what is going on within the Tea Party as a result of what began as a conversation with the NAACP and now is turning into a Tea Party argument, without the NAACP?
Also this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREENE: I know this guy that some folks got into trouble. This guy met the criteria for pretrial intervention but was denied. That same guy -- that same guy's trial was scheduled for last week but was put off. Anyway, moving on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Anyway, moving on. South Carolina's Democratic U.S. Senate candidate holds his first major speech. Let's just say it's unlike any speech we think we've ever seen. Talk about schvitzing. You'll see it next right here. It's -- it's on THE LIST, folks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Eight p.m., Thursday night, I like the sound of that. Thanks for being with me.
Let's continue. This is RICK'S LIST.
Three o'clock, the last time we heard from Alvin Greene, this was a phone interview with CNN's Don Lemon and Greene was assuring Don that he was really OK. Remember that? It was a bit of a strange interview, especially when you consider that Greene is running for the United States Senate, and most people didn't know who he was or where he came from.
Greene, you may remember, came from literally out of nowhere to win, though, the Democratic primary in the state of South Carolina. Six weeks later, yesterday, Greene made his first public address, his first campaign speech. Here he is. Let's all watch this together. It's worth watching.
Here he is, Alvin Greene, Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, speaking in his hometown of Manning, South Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREENE: Good afternoon to everyone.
I'm the best candidate in the United States Senate race here in South Carolina. I am also the best candidate for the -- I am also the best choice for the Image Award next year.
(LAUGHTER)
GREENE: OK. My campaign is about getting South Carolina and America back to work and moving South Carolina and America forward. We see record-high cuts in education spending, even though South Carolina is ranked 49th in education. South Carolina ranks 49th in standardized test scores and we have the highest high school dropout rate in the country. We spend more than two times of our taxpaying dollar on inmates than students.
Let's pick up with some of the projects that were put on hold after 9/11 such as improving transportation and infrastructure in South Carolina and America. We can expand the water and sewer systems into rural communities. Now is the time to implement alternative forms of energy such as solar, wind and methane.
I know this guy that some folks got into trouble. This guy happened to be a person of color. This was in the fifth judicial circuit. Anyhow, this guy met the criteria for pretrial intervention but was denied. That same guy -- the same guy's trial was scheduled for last week but was put off.
Anyway, moving on, let's get South Carolina and America back to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: You kind of get to the point where you start to feel for him, huh? If you were in that room and you were asked what you thought of the speech, what would you say? Well, we have that reaction. Wait until you hear what people say when they were asked that question.
Also, when the guy most excited about rounding up illegal immigrants turns out to be a neo-Nazi, do you think maybe there should be some cause for concern about that? You tell me.
THE LIST scrolls on. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: I'm sitting here looking at many of the responses just during the commercial, we got tons of people who are tweeting after watching the speech by candidate Greene. One says, "After seeing this Alvin Greene speech, I think I can run for office." Another one says, "Is this guy serious?"
But some people are saying, hey, you know what, people he should be there after all. Look at this one -- go ahead and put up the one that you guys had. Switch that monitor, if you can.
Fields Pierce writes, "Alvin Greene is not a plant by the Republican Party, rather a sign that the American people are sick of career politicians."
What do you guys think? I'll tell you what -- I want to know what somebody else thinks. I want to know, in fact, what Jessica Yellin thinks.
Before we do anything else, let me show you just a little bit more. We've got a little more of this clip of Alvin Greene. I know a lot of people are talking about this. This is one of those trenders, as we like to call it.
Where's Brooke Baldwin? She's back, by the way. She's be out here in about 20 minutes.
This is the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate from South Carolina. Let's listen to a little more. Go ahead, Roge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREENE: Let's get our priorities and government in order and get South Carolina and America back to work for the people again. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The folks you hear applauding, they're either supporters or just plain curious. Those are the folks who came out there.
Our Jessica Yellin was there as well.
Just give us the spiel here -- what's the background? What was going on at this event and what did the supporters say or the folks in the audience say when you talked to them about what their reaction was to what obviously was a -- in Yiddish they say, when you're schvitzing a lot, you're uncomfortable and I think it was an uncomfortable moment for some people.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You're using Yiddish. I love it, Rick.
(CROSSTALK)
YELLIN: It was a local gathering of the local NAACP of Manning, South Carolina. That's his hometown. There are about 300 to 500 people who came out. So, keep in mind, this is a hometown audience. It's his first public campaign speech that we know of.
I went to visit him at his home right before the speech and he said he was too nervous getting ready for the speech to talk to us on camera. He did show me the speech which he handwrote on double-spaced notebook -- spiral-bound notebook paper. He said he wrote it himself.
And, you know, I talked to the audience beforehand. I spoke to a lot of people. Every single person I spoke to was a skeptic before and almost all of them said they'd vote for him afterwards or support him.
SANCHEZ: Really? You know, this is like the converse of the Nixon thing. Remember how people watched the speech there after Nixon debated Kennedy 1962? Anyway, early '60s.
When Kennedy debated Nixon, everybody in the audience said, oh, my gosh, Nixon killed him, just destroyed him, wiped the floor with him. Yet everyone at home said, no, Kennedy won that by a mile. And it's because they could see Nixon's perspiration and the camera goes in so tight and you saw the stabble (ph), and you know, the 5:00 shadow.
YELLIN: Right.
SANCHEZ: Well, we were watching this guy here on television and he did come across jumpy, nervous, jittery, inexperienced and sweating like he was sweating too much.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Is that what's going on here?
YELLIN: What I think happened here is that he was introduced by someone who says he's an old family friend and called on the audience -- said, this is a local boy who's being mocked by the world, by at least the greater national media and the rest of non-South Carolinians and doesn't he deserve a chance, he said, doesn't he deserve us listening to him and shouldn't we get behind him as his community?
So, I did get the sense there was -- it was sort of a local man they didn't want to seem like they were not supportive of.
SANCHEZ: Well, let's listen.
YELLIN: (INAUDIBLE) the crowd that way.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Let's listen to some of the people you talked. Let's see what they say. Let's listen.
YELLIN: All right. OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought it was wonderful. God bless him and I wish him well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was OK.
YELLIN: Will you vote for him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.
YELLIN: So, you wanted him to deliver and you thought he did?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he delivered a whole lot today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought he was great. He was very informative. You know, he knows exactly what he wants to do and the way he wants to take this country.
YELLIN: Are you a voter here and would you vote for him?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm thinking about it, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
SANCHEZ: You know what? When you've never done anything like that, you're bound to be nervous. He was a little bit nervous. That's to be understood. And maybe what happens is those people, they just start pulling for him the more nervous he looks.
YELLIN: Right. There was a very -- there's a sense of low expectations and he got through it. And they were thrilled and relieved. And, you know, a lot of those folks are also -- they said, look, I'm a Democrat, so I'm going to vote for the Democrat, they said. And if he's the Democrat, I'll vote for him.
So, the politics are the back story, too.
SANCHEZ: Yes, interesting story. And sometimes, I'm glad that we're able to show this stuff on video because we let the viewers make their own decisions at home as well. And boy, have they?
Jessica Yellin, good stuff. Look forward to talking to you again.
A Tea Party movement organizer was called out and thrown out for a racist comment. Remember him? But he is firing back. Is he now creating a rift in the ranks? That is ahead. Fascinating story.
Also, have you seen the flash flooding in Kentucky? We've got the pictures and we're going to share them with you. That's next, right here on THE LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Here's the segment many of you have been wanting and talking about.
There are those who take an argument and carefully argue their point while respecting the other side. Then there are those who decide the only way to win an argument is to use a bludgeoning tool on the other guy. I'm about to take you through the elements of the Tea Party Movement, what began as the Tea Party Movement versus the NAACP debate.
You know the background, right? After seeing images like these with people holding fake monkeys to Tea Party events and showing signs of the president dressed as an African voodoo doctor and having black lawmakers called the "N" word, African-Americans became offended enough to raise a resolution asking the Tea Party Movement to control racist elements from within its ranks, which is what Memphis Tea Party founder Mark Skoda in debating the NAACP argument, artfully dealt with an our newscast last week.
Listen to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK SKODA, FOUNDER & CHAIRMAN, MEMPHIS TEA PARTY: We have repudiated racism at every chance. We have gone on record and stated unequivocally that we are against any form of racism or derogatory conversations relative to violence or ostracizing people. And I have personally talked to people when I've seen signs that I deem offensive to just take them away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Even Roland Martin seems extremely expressed by that. But the debate then continued on other CNN shows.
This caught my eye last week when Roland Martin himself, who did have a reason debate earlier on this newscast, on RICK'S LIST, was suddenly, as I turned up the volume on my TV, he's going off. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I debated a Tea Party leader from Memphis on Rick Sanchez's show and he did exactly what needs to be done. And that is to say that when people who bring these racist signs, when they hurl these epitaphs, we tell them, we do not want you hear. He even said that he has told people, you need to get away, this is not what we're about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right. So, what was setting Roland off to make him have to say that? For that answer, you have to go to another show on CNN. This time, I'm taking you to "THE SITUATION ROOM." This was with Wolf Blitzer, of course. He and I talk at the end of this newscast everyday.
Some of the most contentious debate occurred in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Here, instead of taking part in a reason debate, a Tea Party Movement leader -- and this is where Mark Williams jumped into the fray -- uses the opportunity to essentially pour gasoline onto the argument. And while he's at it, he ridicules not some members of the NAACP, but the entire organization.
Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: Real mouthful coming from a guy with -- from an organization with the words "colored people" in its title. The Tea Party --
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Let me interrupt you for a second. What does that have to do one thing with the other thing?
WILLIAMS: That's a pretty racist phrase. I was taught as a small child not to use those terms.
MARTIN: If you're basing your argument on that word, trust me, you're ignoring the reality of the historic nature of the organization. So, come on. Don't base your argument on that. That's weak.
WILLIAMS: That's part of the problem. The NAACP is a bunch of old dusty relics trying to be relevant in the 20th century.
MARTIN: Not true.
WILLIAMS: And they make money off of race baiting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: If you think that's serious, wait. That is Mark Williams who is just getting started. I want you to listen now to what he goes on to say about the NAACP.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: Racists have their own movement. It's called the NAACP.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: "Racists have their own movement and it's called the NAACP." Did you hear that? He just literally called the entire NAACP racist. Now, did that get him reprimanded? No. That didn't happen until over the weekend. Why? Because we continue here. He went even further than that. On Friday, it was reported that he posted a blog describing a fictitious letter to Abraham Lincoln from the NAACP. Are you ready to hear it?
It reads, "Dear Mr. Lincoln, we coloreds have taken a vote and decide that had we don't cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just too much to ask of us colored people and we demand that it stop."
Wait, there's more. Listen here -- "Perhaps the most racist point of all in the tea party is their demand that government stop raising our taxes. That is outrageous. How will we coloreds ever get a wide screen TV in every room if non-coloreds get to keep what they earn?"
Those are the words of Mark Williams who insists neither he nor the tea party movement is racist. In fact, he says those words that I just read to you -- satire, just kidding.
Mark Williams used to be the spokesperson for the tea party express. Over the weekend, he was kicked out. So now you ask, is the controversy over? Absolutely not. There are signs that his removal is now causing a rift in the tea party movement itself.
Why? Well, because some tea party organizations are now fighting with other tea party organizations. They're fighting amongst themselves. Take, for example, this salvo between the tea party express and the tea party federation.
Quote, "The tea party express with over 400,000 members is, by far," it says here, "larger than the tea party federation's entire membership. Most rank-and-file tea party activists think that we're all" -- let me take that back. "Most rank-and-file tea party activists think we're talking about "Star Trek" when we try to explain who the federation is." This is one tea party describing another tea party organization.
"Given the absurdity of the actions by the federation, this is quite fitting, since their conduct is alien to our membership."
It goes on, and so will we continuing to cover what's going on with this apparent rift and we'll continue to ask questions.
Meanwhile, take a look at this -- Chelsea Clinton is getting married at the end of the month. Her parents have treated the details like state secrets. But we have been getting some hints. What's the information about this? We'll bring to it you.
Also, a man catches a thief robbing his house even though the man was almost 100 miles away. Huh? That's next in "Fotos." Cue the music. We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: A little Journalism 101 here. Gather around, students. Dog bites man -- not news. Man bites dog -- OK, that's news. A bunch of sharks scare the pants off scuba divers, baby, that's "Fotos del Dia."
Costa Rica -- in 70 feet of water our iReporter and his fellow divers are suddenly surrounded by sharks in a fish eating frenzy. Stay calm, boys, everything's going to be all right. Brooke Baldwin saying, yes, from over here.
Nobody hurt except underwater nature photography, and everyone made it to the surface with limbs intact. You be quiet over there, you.
See that guy? He's seen robbing that house. Thankfully, nobody was home, but the owner's son got these images automatically e-mailed to him, captured by a surveillance security camera. He basically watched his father's house get robbed from 90 miles away.
Police got the pictures, ID-ed the intruder, and locked him up in Volusia County, Florida.
You are sweltering in this record summer heat, right, no matter where you're watching this from. That's why so many of you are watching, because you're not going to go outside. I get it.
Take a look today south of the equator. It's a record cold snap in Argentina. Half the country is covered in snow. The other day, it was almost the coldest temperature ever recorded in Buenos Aires. So we bring you these pictures so you can enjoy them. If you can't watch them live, go to my blog, CNN.com/RickSanchez.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) SENATE MINORITY LEADER: There are all kinds of things going on in America that make me uncomfortable, both on the right and on the left. I've got better things to do than to weigh in to all these disputes and discussions going on out in the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Is that the GOP position on the racist elements in the tea party movement? I read to you just a little while ago what Mark Williams said.
So if you were one of the leading members of the Republican Party and you were asked that question by Candy Crowley as you watched here live on CNN over the weekend, should the GOP have taken a tougher stance, even distancing themselves from things like what Mark Williams wrote on his blog or is alleged to have written on his blog?
We'll drill down on that with a conservative blogger Erik Erikson. That's ahead.
Also Chelsea Clinton is getting married. And for now, her parents are revealing few details. But that hasn't stopped people from tweeting and blogging and tweeting and blogging. And look who's back, ladies and gentlemen. It's Brookie. She's here.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I missed your birthday. Happy belated.
SANCHEZ: I understand we have some news we're going to share with our viewers.
BALDWIN: We do have news.
SANCHEZ: This is too cool.
BALDWIN: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: People are -- you know what? One of my friends, Matthew from News-Busters, just -- is already reporting that -- let's not go there yet. Let's talk about somebody else in the whole marriage business.
BALDWIN: We're talking marriage.
SANCHEZ: Chelsea Clinton. They're so protective of her. And I kind of respect that.
BALDWIN: Yes, I'm all about being private, sort of, I guess.
(LAUGHTER)
We'll talk about Chelsea Clinton. We watched her growing up in the White House. It's been this big secret. And of course that means even bigger speculation about Chelsea Clinton's wedding.
We're two weeks away. July 31st we're hearing is when she'll be saying the "I dos." Chelsea will be marrying her long time friend and hubby to me Mark Mazvinski. Would Mrs. Clinton, would the mother of the bride, confirm when she spoke with Andrea Mitchell yesterday about this whole shindig? Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: My lips are sealed, Andrea. I am under very strict orders not to talk about it. And I think for the right reason because --
MITCHELL: This is Chelsea's wedding?
CLINTON: It is hers, and it's a family wedding. And the people coming are her friends and people that have been meaningful in her life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So she's not saying a word, right? But a lot of people are now speculating. We're getting as far as where the wedding might be. It might be in a town called Rinebeck, New York. It could also happen at the former estate of John Jacob Astor. A lot of calls to florists we're hearing in that town. The inns are booked.
But others are saying this could be a ruse. But if it's a ruse, it's pretty costly one.
SANCHEZ: Who's the dude, by the way?
BALDWIN: The dude is a good friend of hers, long-time good friend.
But also, the father of the bride -- Hillary Clinton in this interview, underscored his emotion at the wedding.
SANCHEZ: Really, go Bill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: You should assume if he makes it down the aisle in one piece, it's a major accomplishment.
(LAUGHTER)
He is going to be so emotional, as am I. But we're both looking forward to it and very happy about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Only daughter. That's a big deal.
BALDWIN: Can you imagine walking Savannah down the aisle? You're going to be like bumbling, teary-eyed --
SANCHEZ: It's ain't going to happen. She'll date when she's 40.
BALDWIN: Savannah, it's going to be OK.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: OK, so you were walking over here a little while ago, and I noticed -- give me your hand. What is this rock, this gargantuan stone?
BALDWIN: It was my birthday. I'm a July baby. It was my birthday last Monday. I have went to Napa to drink some wine. And the wine led me to a private picnic at a venue. Oh, lord. And the wine led me to a private picnic at this winery, and there's the whole picnic and the whole deal.
But it's tough dating a reporter.
SANCHEZ: You knew it was coming.
BALDWIN: So the second he walks through the other metal detector with this mysterious green bag -- I'm sorry, honey, if you're watching, I was wondering. I was telling myself it was a birthday present. But he said, "Will you marry me?" And I said, yes.
SANCHEZ: Congratulations.
BALDWIN: Thank you so much.
SANCHEZ: That's wonderful.
BALDWIN: Thank you. I'm thrilled. I was totally surprised.
SANCHEZ: If you work hard at it, it's a wonderful thing. It's going to be great. My wife and I -- she's the only woman I've ever been married to. I love her to death. I want to die with her.
BALDWIN: You work with her every day.
SANCHEZ: It's because she's hot.
BALDWIN: She is. You're a lucky dude.
SANCHEZ: You're fantastic. I'm so happy for you. That guy finally came.
BALDWIN: He did. Three years plus. Thanks, honey, appreciate it.
SANCHEZ: Way to go.
Let's talk about what's coming up. Mark Williams has been booted out of the tea party movement. This thing got so crazy over the weekend. It began has an argument between some members of the tea party and some members of the NAACP, and we thought it would be over. Now it's become an argument between some people in the tea party and other people in the tea party. And on and on it goes. We'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: OK, for those of you who have been with us throughout the show, you've seen, as we've reported, there seems to be some real trouble in the tea party movement today. There is some infighting between some folks who are part of one organization, the, quote, "tea party express," and another part of the organization called the tea party federation.
All of this stems from the federation's decision to expel the express and its former spokesperson Mark Williams. Why? Williams wrote a blog that lots of people found extremely disturbing, some would say dumb, some would say racist.
The federation says it's not racist and that fringe elements are responsible for those racially charged signs we've seen and the rhetoric that we've heard.
Let's bring in Eric Erickson, the editor-in-chief of the conservative blog redstate.com. You can't look at this and not say, what the hell is wrong with these people, right? ERIC ERICKSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Everybody says dumb things. I've said dumb things.
SANCHEZ: Not me. I'm kidding.
ERICKSON: He does not seem to repenting. There's no "I'm sorry." You know, when you say dumb things, like I have, you get your back up for a while and then you realize yes I'm an idiot. And he hasn't.
SANCHEZ: Is it just dumb or is it racist?
ERICKSON: Apparently he is from Boston. I'm from the south. I heard it Friday night and I was appalled. You don't use language like that, not in this time.
SANCHEZ: "We colored people are going to buy big screen TVs."
ERICKSON: And "Massa." You don't do that. This is 2010. It wasn't acceptable in the 1950s, it's not acceptable now.
SANCHEZ: Let me put the pressure on you now. You have a guy who comes out and says as you seem to be intimating, some things that are either racist or right on the bubble, right?
ERICKSON: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Now you've got a whole bunch of people who are supporting him and saying we're angry he was let go. What does that say about those people?
ERICKSON: Here is the problem. We need to explain this. The tea party movement decided -- there were a bunch of groups and they decided to get together and form this union of amalgamated concerned federation of national tea party express patriots LLC --
SANCHEZ: A lot of words.
ERICKSON: Yes. It's this big confederation of these individual groups, and he is in charge of the tea party express. He decided to become the communications guy for this federation. The federation is saying no thank you now.
The tea party movement is about local activists at the local level who are mad at government. They hate the Republicans. They hate the Democrats.
SANCHEZ: They want small government and they want less taxes. Who doesn't like that?
ERICKSON: And these guys are about the titles and what they can claim to fame. They're not about actual activism and that's the problem.
SANCHEZ: Here's the point and the stuff I think people at home who look at this organization and wonder, not that they don't like it, but they're going, my god, who are these people and what's going on over there, they look at it somewhat mysteriously. Let's remove the veil. How many other Mark Williams are out there and how powerful are they? That's the unanswered question.
ERICKSON: When the media talks about the tea party movement, they focus on these national groups. When one of them, one leader of one of these groups does something dumb it casts a shadow on the entire movement.
That's not the movement. Every group has fringe elements. You go to a Barack Obama rally you'll see someone holding a free Mumia sign. Every group has them. These are not the leaders. These are not the faces.
I've been all over the country in the past few months with these people. They're profoundly decent and care about the country. They're definitely not racist.
SANCHEZ: Do you think Mitch McConnell when asked what do you think of the Mark Williams comment, do you think he should have said I just don't get involved in that, or should he have said something a little more strident, you know what, I'm troubled by what I've seen but I'm not willing to cast a broad brush?
ERICKSON: I'm surprised Mr. McConnell didn't say anything, because Mitch McConnell and Barack Obama, they're both enemies of the tea party movement I guess you could say. Tea party movement doesn't like Mitch McConnell and he doesn't like them.
SANCHEZ: Because, I think what you're getting at, is he took on Rand Paul.
ERICKSON: Not just that.
SANCHEZ: Who is a tea party favorite.
ERICKSON: He ran his re-election campaign in Kentucky on what bacon he's brought home which is the antithesis of the tea party movement. Trent Lott speaking to "The Washington Post" this weekend talked about how dangerous these tea party guys were and they need to be co-opted.
Trent Lott, the former Republican leader, wouldn't be saying something like that without Mitch McConnell, and Bob Bennett in the Senate who is Mitch McConnell's best friend in the Senate saying the same thing.
SANCHEZ: Eric Erickson, always honest, always a unique perspective. Thanks for coming on.
ERICKSON: Thanks very much.
SANCHEZ: Creators of a list of personal information on hundreds of alleged illegal immigrants could now be in serious legal trouble. Why? That's ahead. Stay with us. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We are waiting for answers to several questions about BP's pressure test in the Gulf. Everyone's wondering about that seepage we've been telling you about. I mean, what exactly is it and where is it seeping from? What does it really mean?
We've got some pretty good descriptions but we're expecting a live update from the incident commander Thad Allen. That will happen in the next hour and you will see it live right here.
Also this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I have to say, after years of championing policies that turned a record surplus into a massive deficit, the same people who didn't have any problems spending hundreds of billions of dollars on tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans are now saying we shouldn't offer relief to middle class Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The president calls out Republican opposition to his economy plan. What's he saying about them and their feeling about Americans? Giving up? That's next on "The List." Stay right there.
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